The Whitchurch Inn in Tavistock were the Winners of a Gold Award in the Dining Pub category at the Taste of the West Awards this year.

That wasn’t the reason for our visit but it was great to hear when came for lunch this week.

Inside it’s a fabulous space exactly how you imagine a traditional country pub to be.

It was fairly quiet, but that was mainly because we had arrived 15 minutes before the pub opened (we were keen), they still let us in😎

LUNCH MENU

We had plenty of time to peruse the menu and the specials board while they got themselves organised which was great as it made us feel more relaxed with no pressure to get our order in

I almost was drawn into ordering the ‘Summer Sharer’ for 2 which read like a ploughman’s lunch with a platter of ‘cheddar cheese, butcher’s ham, homemade scotch egg, olives, coleslaw, pickled onions, gherkin, sweet pickle and ciabatta‘ but I sensed that no-one wanted to share with me and I couldn’t justify scoffing £36 worth of ‘picky bits’ all to myself

Eventually after an unnecessary amount of pondering my choices were between the two different burgers at £20 and the Fish and Chips for £19

In the end I picked a burger as I figured I was getting plenty of chip shop action at the seaside on this holiday

For the record my fellow diners picked the fish and chips and the burger option that I didn’t choose, the Mother selecting off menu sort of with the specials board.

Just to note this was supposed to be family time so I restrained myself and didn’t burden the whole table with my attempts to photograph their food

I still got some good pictures of our side of the table and enough to give you an idea of what the Whitchurch has to offer us

PAN FRIED PLAICE

The Star dish of the day was a bowl of Pan fried Plaice with sautéed potatoes, greens, and a sauce with king prawns of white wine, garlic and butter.

This was more special when you learn that they basically rustled up this dish to order. Originally we were keen to try the Catch of the Day which was Pan Fried Hake which came with a King Prawn and Lobster bisque .

Sadly there was no Hake today (they hadn’t had time to update the specials board since we snuck in so early lol) and the bisque sauce had crab in it which we couldn’t eat due to an intolerance.

No problem they just offered Plaice instead (which was a total bonus) and came up with the sauce of white wine, garlic and butter

It was such a success with the Mother that she was found attempting to replicate the dish herself the following week, as she had enjoyed it so much

BURGER AND FRIES

I ordered The Chefs special New York deli burger which was a 6oz patty, topped with pastrami, deli mayo and, cheese for £20

This was a pretty decent looking burger and came served with salad (which I think was just some rocket inside the bun), a bowl of crunchy fries and a rather creamy slaw.

NEW YORK DELI BURGER

The meat patty was very thick, well seasoned and ground to have a good crumbed texture. There was a decent char to the edges and it was still fairly juicy inside as well which pleased me no end.

I often talk about the cheese blanket covering the meat patty and here they certainly presented one with aplomb. Somehow the cheese and mayo had melded to produce this one draping over the meat.

Overall a good bite of food, almost too much for a lunchtime snack and a good job I was hungry!

I really liked this place, the service was perfection, friendly, attentive, and genuine.

They could not do enough for you yet somehow managed not to intrude. It was very easy to see why they won that Dining Award

The tagline on their website reads

“A warm, rustic Devon country pub serving real ales, hearty food, and a friendly welcome by the fire.”

If you close your eyes and picture that image that is exactly what we encountered when we visited (except that the fire wasn’t burning, I mean come on its a heatwave outside 😎🤣)

They are located just outside of the main town

📍The Whitchurch Inn, Church Hill, Whitchurch, Tavistock, PL19 9ED

You can check them out on their Facebook Page and on their Instagram Profile